Was Kendrick Lamar’s Joel Osteen And Haley Joel Osment Name Mix-Up A Mistake Or Brilliance?

Kendrick Lamar has left fans wondering whether his cross reference of pastor Joel Osteen and actor Haley Joel Osment on his new diss track “Euphoria” was a product of brilliance or mistaken identity.

The song, which was released on Tuesday (April 30), finds Lamar taking aim at fellow rap star Drake and contains lyrics that include a mix of Osteen and Osment’s names. He also mentions the popular films The Sixth Sense and A.I. Artificial Intelligence, both of which Osment starred in as a child.

“Am I battling ghosts or AI?/ Ni**a feeling like Joel Hale Osteen/ Funny, he was in a film called A.I./ And my sixth sense tellin’ me to off him,” the Pulitzer Prize winner rhymes at one point on the diss, which spans nearly seven minutes in length.

Upon catching wind of the line, listeners were divided on Lamar’s intent behind those particular lines. Some felt the Compton native combined Osteen and Osment’s names as a witty way to convey his willingness to lyrically take out Drake despite his alleged usage of ghostwriters, as ghosts were the crux of The Sixth Sense‘s plot.

Lamar’s mention of Osment’s first name and the 2001 film A.I. were seen as a jab at Drake’s recently released diss record “Taylor Made,” which was created using A.I.-generated vocals of rap legends 2Pac and Snoop Dogg.

Others felt the mention of Osteen was an inference to the Canadian rapper’s seemingly disengenuous nature, an accusation that has been levied against the Houston-based religous leader on past occasions. Still, a large segment felt Lamar simply mistook Osment’s name with Osteen’s, thus making that particular couplet a blatant and seemingly avoidable blunder on his part.

“I don’t think the Joel Osteen line was a mistake solely because he knew Haley Joel Osment was in Artificial Intelligence, and who the fuck knows that without knowing his correct name,” one user on social media reasoned.

Another added, “He didn’t mix it up at all. He purposely did a play on words with the names ‘Joel Hale Osteen’ Haley Joel Osment (AI & 6th sense) Joel Olsteen(fake preacher with mega cult following) That fckn Quadruple entendre went over yall heads!!”

Still, a large segment of listeners were unconvinced that the combination of names was intentional, chiding the hitmaker for his alleged slip-up. “I’m sorry but I cannot stop laughing at Kendrick mixing up AI/Sixth Sense child actor Haley Joel Osment and televangelist grifter Joel Osteen,” one detractor wrote, with others echoing their sentiments in their own posts reacting to “Euphoria.”

See listeners’ reactions to Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” lyrics mentioning Osteen and Osment below.

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